Code 3 Diecast Vehicles

[OrionSlaveLotion]

Without delving too deeply into Code3 product accuracy or price range, both of which are laughable at best… I will say that I detest a company that will cry to Lucas’ lawyers to get another micro companies’ superior products off the market. Let me reiterate- not too long ago there was a small garage kit company out of Canada producing accurate, beautifully cast, large scale and AFFORDABLE models of various SW ships/vehicles. Now before getting into the copyright issues of such venture, let me assure you that Lucasfilm knew about this outfit and they were cool with it as long as the stuff was never massed produced, in fact an employee at ILM had purchased some of the kits… I guess they weren’t upset since the quality of the products was top-notch and the producers were really not making a huge profit at all; they were doing this more for love of the hobby and a service to science fiction modelers. Now, a few months ago, this company announced they were going to produce a 1/48 scale Millennium Falcon! How sweet would that have been!? SW modelers rejoiced and were foaming at the mouth for this Falcon… then those pussies at Code3 got word of this and bitched and whined to Lucas about the "other" Falcon model, that was about 8 times bigger than theirs and accurate, not like their sub-par little die-cast ‘toy’.  To wrap up this sad story- Lucas was backed up against a legal wall and they had no choice but to send them a cease and desist letter, now this company can no longer make any great SW kits and it doesn’t look like we’ll ever see the fabled 1/48 Falcon, you can also kiss their Outrider goodbye, the 1/48 AT-AT, 1/6 Probe Droid and all the other very excellent kits they manufactured. Well that’s all, I just had to rant.

[BigDumbWookiee]

That sucks. I've seen the models you talked about, and they were superb.

I'm glad Im no longer going to collect Code 3. I had to knock my asking price down to $200 before I could find someone interested...

[JediMAC]

So Code 3 called me at my office today, and asked when the hell I was planning on picking up the X-Wing that I ordered last year...  Guess I better finally make a decision on this thing, huh?  Ugh.  Kinda hard, considering I KNOW this thing ain't worth the $300 asking price...

Also, it looks like nobody's heard a peep out of Code 3 anywhere of late.  I really wonder what's going on over there with their company, especially after all the negative reviews on their first two Star Wars ships.

If I cave in on the X-Wing and stop by their warehouse next week to pick it up (it's 10 minutes away), I'll see if I can find anything out from them as far as what might be on tap next.  I'm guessing a Tie Fighter personally, and hopefully at a slightly lower price point than the first two!  

[BigDumbWookiee]

Im very glad I cut these out of my collection... Good luck with whatever decision you make, I hope youre happy with it!

[JediMAC]

So Code 3 called me at my office today, and asked when the hell I was planning on picking up the X-Wing that I ordered last year...  Guess I better finally make a decision on this thing, huh?  Ugh.

Well, I still haven't gone over there to pick it up yet, but things are getting tougher now with the introduction of their new Slave 1 ship announced this afternoon!  Looks good, and I find this quote on their site to be very interesting, considering the paint apps on the first two ships were definitely the biggest gripe for most people...

In bold:

These are preproduction photos and changes will be made for greater authenticity. Variations in color will be made to final production.

So, anyone like it?  Probably not $300 worth of enjoyment, I know - but still pretty cool looking.  Dammit.  I just don't know what to do with this line.  I want to continue with it, but...  

[JediMAC]

There's a fella named "Dutch" over in the Code 3 forums who is supposedly in the know with the upcoming Code 3 ships, and he's claiming he's seen the prototypes for the next two vehicles following Slave 1, and offers up these hints:

One is a "good guy" ship from ANH.

The other is a "bad guy" ship from ESB (not the Star Destroyer).

Nothing "TIE" related.

That would leave as the only possible choices:

Y-Wing, or possibly Luke's Landspeeder

AT-AT

Two worthy choices there, though a Tie Fighter of some type is now overdue...  God, I don't know what to do with this damned line.  I just joined the Code 3 forums (it's dead in there) to see what those folks had to say about them, and it was mostly all praise.

I'll probably cave and get the freakin' X-Wing.  Apparently the paint job on it is a lot darker than the pix Code 3 has up on their site.  Many of the Code 3 members were saying it was almost too dark surprisingly...

[Jesse James]

I'm tellin' ya Matt, don't do it man!



Besides Code 3 being intrinsically evil, in that they don't want a SUPERIOR product to be available to the fans, and for less, then it's because their product simply doesn't live up to a $300-ish pricetag.

I'd buy model kits first...  There's a great XW and TIE model out from a Japanese company.  

Eh, I know you don't do models...  Just a suggestion.  I've grown to hate how Code 3 ran some good model companies out though, and there's NOT A SINGLE actual model kit on the market for STar Wars anymore because of them, unless you want to buy from Japan (And even then, I think their license may be up and they're not making any more sets than the XW & TIE).

[JediMAC]

I'm tellin' ya Matt, don't do it man!

Funny, but I was just replying to your post over at that other place...  

I definitely understand your gripe there though Jess.  My view is that I suck at model making, painting, customizing, etc., and I've always loved the heavier feel of the diecast ships, ever since I was a little kid.

Do I think these are worth the $300 price tag they're asking?  Hell no.  Maybe half that.  Am I one of the world's biggest idiots for giving them that kinda money for this stuff (assuming I continue with the line)?  Yep.  Most definitely...  

I need some kinda Obsessive Compulsive Collecting Disorder medication, or sumthin'...  

[BigDumbWookiee]

If you need meds for OCD, I recommend Paxil. It also helps with social anxiety disorder. I take it It makes me sleep a lot. It made a friend of mine want to kill himself. But hey, we weren't afraid to go out in public anymore. When we were awake, and wanting to live....

You just need to toss in the towel Matt.... Im serious, look at the other overprice, not-precise lines from the past. Namely, Illusive Originals. The Rancor and Jabba, both which I now own, are very cheap. I bought each of mine for under $100 (Jabba was only $50). Their other items have also decreased in value or at least held original retail (no accounting for inflation). Why? HUGE edition numbers for one, and they just werent popular.

I predict that about 4-5 years post Episode III or post Code 3 (whichever comes first), that we will be able to get these things for under $100, easy. They are simply not worth the $295 price tag.

Do you REALLY want these, or do you just want to maintain a complete collection? I felt like I wanted the XWing. Then I sold my MF, and now have no desire to collect these. Hey, it's $300 (a piece) that you could put towards Master Replicas items

[DSJ™]

I'll pass again!

[JediMAC]

Thanks to my good collecting buddies for your support here...    



 

[BigDumbWookiee]

We are supporting you! We're surrounding you with hugs, while whispering "ditch Code 3, you'll thank us later"

[Jesse James]

No offense was really meant to you Matt, or others in that thread over at Scum, but I did take a bit of a shot at those claiming the Code 3 ships look better than model kits out there.

As nice as the one guy is in the thread, he's just REALLY off-base about plastic ships, and almost sounds scourned by what Hasbro's done by butchering the toys so he thinks all plastic looks unrealistic.

I guess that WAS a little bit of a shot...  Not its original intent, but I honestly think that anyone claiming Code 3 as being high quality just doesn't know what they're talking about.  

It's like the people that say the prequal's CGI sucks, when anyone with experience in CGI and computer animation in general will tell you it's cutting edge stuff, and the most impressive animation in a film anyone's likely to have seen...  Even superior in complexity to LOTR (Which I love, I'm just being honest).

Some people just don't like it though, and are convinced that it's "poor quality" when it's  not...  Just like I guess a couple folks think the Code 3 sets are somehow superior to the Fine Molds model kits, or even an AMT/Ertl kit from the 1980's.  Plastic, by its very nature, takes better detail than most cast metals do even.  Some people just aren't willing to accept that though.

I think it's them trying to justify the $300 pricetags in their mind.  

Seriously though, those C3 items would be worth $100 or so...  They're not even competitively priced against other die-cast metal models out there even.  I mean, I got a 1:18 scale Willy's jeep from World War II not that long ago, and it was only $30, has a working steering mechanism, full detailed engine, removable accessories like tools and such.  

I just don't get Code 3 then, and their exorbitant pricing, and their desire to push out other product that, by all means isn't even the same TYPE of collectible.

Code 3 then pi$$ed me off in a couple ways.

1) they pushed a superior product in model kits away, and have killed NEW Star Wars model kits (including some obscure EU ones) from being made.  This means model kits, which I love building, are now not available readily, and new kits of new vehicles aren't going to be available till Code 3 gives up its license.

2) They offer inferior quality product when compared to other "similar" items, like model kits (even pre-built ones) when it comes to their overall detail, accuracy, and yet claim their product to be "high-end".

3) They eliminate any form of competition, which I'm not wild about ANY Star Wars license for this reason...  hasbro b!tched at Lego for offering individual figures (Like who the hell's gonna quit being a die-hard Hasbro figure collector to buy Lego figures?), and so Code 3's sissy behavior over the C&D they MADE Lucasfilm enfoce (Lucasfilm actually had model-makers BUYING the kits from these "garage" kit companies).

4) Their price is just outrageous...  Like I said, for all the removable panels and things, I could go with $100 or less, but not $300...  That just sucks to me for all the more you get.  I mean, the scale of the X-Wing may not even be right, judging by eyeballing it (I could be wrong on that), so how can someone justify $300 for it?  I wouldn't pay $300 for a 1:18 scale X-Wing that was done RIGHT, much less Code 3's...  

But, when it all boils down, I'm mostly irritated because I can't get a single new damn model kit because of Code 3.  The best I can hope for is Fine Molds to make more kits, but I don't even know if they are holding a license at this poiont, an d there's been little heard from them, even though they've made arguably the best model kits for Star Wars ever.  

My last bastion of hope was the small garage companies that made limited edition resin kits (mostly of EU ships), and they're now unable to make anything...  And it's 100% the fault of Code "whiney b!tch" 3.

[JediMAC]

Looks like Adam's guess was right - Master Replicas just confirmed for ships...  

Very curious to see how this situation plays out, especially since their first vehicle is going to be the AT-AT, which is rumored to be one of the next two vehicles from Code3 as well.  I still haven't picked up my X-Wing from them yet, so I may just hold off until I see what's happening with MR at this weekend's ToyFair in NY.  I really want to see a price on their AT-AT, though I fear it's likely going to be way out of my range...

But if it's in the same ballpark as Code3's price, I'll probably switch teams!

[Jesse James]

If they're REALLY superior quality products, I'll look into picking up an AT-AT myself...  For what MR is likely to charge though, this thing better be damn good.  Their prices on replica items seem outrageous to me.

The origianl Ertl kits for the AT-AT weren't inferior quality so I've gotta be pretty wow'd by this MR AT-AT to bite on buying one.  I'll see though, as it is my favorite vehicle in the trilogy so having a good quality replica of one could be cool.  Would help me in my little project as well.